


Two Sides of the Same Coin

by Owleeve



Category: Rabbit Saviors (Web Series), Rabbit Saviors - All Media Types, Rabbit Saviors - BaraRonTai
Genre: BaraRonTai AU, Baraguntai!Ron, Crack Treated Seriously, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Ron is a God, Roncest, Selfcest, Slow Burn, Soul Bond, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Why Did I Write This?, premarital handholding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 05:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26348191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owleeve/pseuds/Owleeve
Summary: As Ron is finally getting used to living his double life as both a giant nerd and an excentric super hero, he somehow finds himself separated from his egg. Confused, he will try to find it back with the help of Shizen and his best friend Brynn but who knew that finding it back would confuse him even more?Set in the BaraRonTai universe, this fanfiction is absolutely spoiler free for the comic and the series.
Relationships: Ron Maple (Rabbit Saviors)/Ron Maple (Rabbit Saviors)
Kudos: 2





	1. Ronning In The 90s

**Author's Note:**

> I did it. Here. First ever Rabbit Saviors fanfiction. Who knew the first one would be a shit post?  
> Anyway, it's also my very first fanfic written in English so I dearly hope it is up to the task.  
> As for updates, I have no freaking clue when I'll update it. But I'll try to not have it die right before it had the chance to live.
> 
> So enjoy this abomination.

Ron felt his ears ringing. The explosion created by Soleil’s last flaming arrow was way too close to him for his comfort. Hiding behind rubbles alone, he waited a second for the flames to subdue before rushing back into battle.

If you told him a couple months ago he would get regularly into fights where a single mistake could mean the loss of someone he cares about, he would not have believed you. He probably would have let out a nervous laugh before avoiding any new interaction with your person. Yet, here he was, rapier in hand, running towards the enemy. He had been coming back from his club meeting when he saw the three rabbit girls up to no good. While it might have seemed like a great idea back then, something to brag about when he’d hang with his fellow saviors, he quickly realized how foolish fighting three super villains alone was. God knows Neige, his cousin, would never let him live that down… If he does survive the encounter, that is.

The violent wind blew through his hair and rabbit ears as he avoided another attack from Soleil. The arrow disintegrated as soon as it touched his weapon and he took the opportunity to get in close quarter with her. As only a couple meters separated the two of them, he raised his blade to the skies before shouting:

“Chrome Gar-“

As roses were slowly rising from the ground, surrounding him, he felt a sudden pain to his right leg. He faltered for a second, giving a glare towards the one behind the attack. There, was standing Saguaro, laughing maniacally as she often did. Her sharp eyes were blown wide in delight, caught in the pleasure of inflicting pain upon the savior.

“Oh, poor rabbit! Trouble standing?”

Saguaro slapped her whip to the floor, letting a cracking sound echo onto the battlefield. Ron let his lips form a sneer, hiding his pain.

“Trouble standing you, more like.”

The rabbit sinner attacked him, the whip getting caught around Ron’s arm. His mask of confidence fell from his face as the small sharp diamonds on the weapon penetrated his skin. In one swift motion, he yanked his arm back with all of his strength:

“On with the show!!” Ron shouted as Saguaro was dragged towards him.

He prepared an attack but just as he was about to deliver it, another flaming arrow went between Saguaro and Ron’s heads.

“Don’t ignore me, you fool.”

“You are hard to ignore, Soleil.” He spat her way, thrusting his arm towards her, throwing violently Saguaro into Soleil. The two collided as both of them grunted. Ron massaged his injured wrist while looking proudly over the two sinners, moving in a laid back manner towards them.

“So? Had enough of me already?” His obnoxious smirk only widened by the glare they threw at him.

“Not so fast, sparkly!”

He didn’t have time to react before he felt fibers encircle his lower body, throwing him off balance. He could hear Saguaro’s crazed laughter as he collapsed to the ground, grinding his teeth at the annoying sound.

“Look at him!! Good job Roz’!”

Rozul giggled before tightening her grip on the savior. He huffed, as he felt the wires slowly sinking into his flesh. That was going to leave marks… Even if those boots, indeed, made his legs look insanely good, they didn’t offer much protection except at the front. He would have to ask Shizen how he could change that…

As Rozul was way too concentrated on gloating at him, Ron turned around, forcing on his face a grin as he put his head lazily into his left hand, the other tightening around his weapon. He looked up at the sinner, standing above him, with a suggestive look on himself:

“Come here often?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“You’re in no position to be this confident, Herr Sparkly.”

“Quite the contrary, doll.” Ron lifted his laced up legs, tightening his abs before springing quickly to his feet (a trick he was glad to have learnt years ago to impress Brynn). In a second, he cut the wires between them, spun around and put the tip of his blade against Rozul’s neck. “How the turn tables…”

Behind he could hear the rest of the sinners rising up. Ron finally came to the unfortunate conclusion that… he was screwed. He barely hurt one of them and managed, in record time, to get injuries on both his arm and his legs. The sinners, on their side, would never flee as they felt comfort in their number. How could he fend them off?! No answer came so he decided to heed the advice of some of his favourite anime characters. Jogging away from this fight he could not win alone, he turned around towards the three sinners and bowed before striking another one of his obnoxious pose:

“This is where we part ways, ladies! To the pleasure of seeing you again. Bubye!!” he exclaimed before running, retreating to safety. As long as he found a spot to transform back into his normal form, he should be able to evade the sinners. To his knowledge, only Soleil had a clue about what he usually looked like but even then, in a crowd, finding someone like him very much average in every way might prove to be difficult.

So he ran, feeling the three other rabbit girls on his tail. He left the forest area, jumping onto the paved road. He observed his surroundings, searching for a narrow alley or anything that could hide him. He’d even be willing to hide in a trash can if he wasn’t sure that Soleil would be more than happy to incinerate the whole neighborhood to find him. The gears in his head kept turning and the rabbit sinners were getting closer and closer to his location. He had to keep moving.

Ron felt his feet move on their own accord, fueled by adrenaline. There must have been a place to hide, and he was going to find it!

He could hear matching sets of footsteps on the pavement, angrily chasing him. The savior took sharp turns after sharp turns, hoping from streets to streets. His head was buzzing with exhaustion, the sound of his blood pumping through his veins was so loud, the only other thing he could hear was his erratic breathing. Buildings melted into one another in a puddle of colours, passing by so quickly he could not even know if he already went through this area or if he even knew where he was. Paradise, California, was one hellish labyrinth in summer.

After turning one last time into a small alleyway, he put an arm against one of the wall, panting… He really should take Mathias’ advice about working out more. He felt like he just ran a marathon when really, what was it? Only running away from some murderous rabbit girls in the city? What’s so scary about that? He snickered at that, his forehead against the cool cement wall. It felt incredible against his sweating skin, assaulted by the Californian weather.

“What are you laughing at, Sparkly?”

His blood ran cold.

This was bad.

He was cornered.

No matter how hard he thought, he could not come up with any way to get out of this situation. The three sinners were right in front of him, blocking the way out of the alley. He was stupid to think he could have been able to run from them through here. He glanced around, focusing on any possible escape. Anything that Bob Bolivor would have been able to use to turn the encounter to his advantage! But nothing came to him. For the first time since what felt like forever, his mind went blank. Everything seemed to be brought to a halt as he stared straight to the three figures walking menacingly towards him.

Was it how it was going to end?

It was not like he was going to be able to do anything to stop them, should they attack. Even if he was able to take one down, he would quickly be overwhelmed.

He deflated, losing his grasp on his loyal rapier, ready to give up.

A voice resonated through his mind, whispering reassurances to him. He perceived it at first as himself, trying to find some fragment of missing bravery in his heart. But the voice was gentler than his, warm and calm, motherly in a way. His eyes shut close, forgetting for a moment the danger he was in, as any other sound began to fade away. He felt like he was floating into nothingness, bathed in a soothing glow. He could not understand exactly what this voice was saying or to whom it was belonging to. All he could do was surrender to the sweet buzzing coursing through him.

_When finally he opened his eyes, he was standing in a field of silver roses, covered in morning dew. The light reflecting on each of their petals was way too bright for him to handle and yet, he did nothing to shield his eyes. Because what he saw in front of him stunned him into silence._

_Right before Ron was standing his rabbit savior form, Baraguntai. From the long blond ears and hair ending in bright fuchsia to the ridiculous dress he somehow got used to wearing over time, he felt like he was looking into a mirror. Yet things seemed odd with him, from the posture showing off a cockier personality or even the more trained muscles._

_The double began to move on his own, smiling widely to Ron, speaking in a lower register:_

_“I see you’ve gotten yourself in quite the predicament. Let me take care of them, would you?”_

_Before Ron could register that those words were meant to him, the doppelganger turned away from him and started to walk, digging a distance between the two._

_“Hey, wait a sec-“_

_Ron tried to cross it but to no avail; the thorns of the flower field were wrapped tightly around his legs, contrary to the other man where roses seemed to bow before him, creating a path that was then closing in, creating an uncrossable barrier between the two. As soon as he lost sight of the other figure in the golden mist, Ron found himself falling backwards, quickly giving way to an irresistible deep sleep._


	2. Never Ronna Give You Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp that was fast.  
> Hope y'all will enjoy this chapter. I'm trying to write as much as I can so that I do not get bored with the idea and just, kinda, abandon the fic. I hate when writers do that (and I actually am guilty of it tbh).  
> The storyline is actually already fully written, I just kinda have to ACTUALLY write the meat on top of the bones of it all.  
> So yeah, be prepared for a couple quick updates.
> 
> Also, this is gonna be a chapter where you'll understand what I mean by "Crack Treated Seriously".

It was the sound of voices which tore Ron away from his dreamless slumber. While they seemed oddly familiar, he could not pinpoint exactly to whom they could belong to. That is until he felt a pair of arms lift him and a face burry itself into his chest. As he lowered his head slightly to look at the person, the first thing he noticed was a viridian mass of hair to which he brought his hand up to.

“Good morning… what’s going on, Shizen…?” he slurred, still drowsy, as he pat her head. It wasn’t unusual for Shizen to wake him in the morning. She actually seemed to find rather amusing his bed head (which she had taken a liking to calling “a disorganized bird nest”), or so she said. But something seemed odd as he felt his short sleeved sweater (did he sleep in his clothes?) slowly getting wet. He was not prepared when Shizen looked up at him, her watery eyes blown wide, and beginning to shout incoherently.

“What’s going on?! I… Ron you’re alive!!! I thought you… I mean you were just lying there and I…” she seemed more and more panicked as she spoke. That woke him up pretty much instantly.

“Woah woah woah… Care to fill me in on the situation here?” Ron asked confused.

It’s then that he noticed he was not in his bedroom. He took a second to take in his surrounding: white sheets, a wooden desk with neatly organized pastel stationeries, blue wallpaper with motivational environment posters on top of it and way too many potted plants.

Oh no.

Ok, he could still make it, he just had to get past a clearly distraught goddess in training but after that, he can just make his way through the window. Sounds like a nice escape plan, after all he did train his evasion tactics by doing exactly that from this very window. Maybe if he just moved slightly towards it…

He heard big stomping sounds in the staircase and knew that the game was over. Well played Ron, it was overall a pretty average life, but we’ll commend you for becoming a magical girl along the way before getting murdered by your childhood best friend, Brynn Frank.

Said childhood friend burst through the door, heading straight towards him.

Ron was not scared of many things. Actually, this is wrong; he was indeed scared of a lot of things but he could pretend to not be affected by them. Brynn was the exception to it. As soon as he caught a glimpse of her face, red with worry and anger, he found himself cowering behind Shizen, transparent fear plastered onto his pale, sweating face. He tried to find his voice to try to calm her down before anything came to confuse him even more. His voice, when it finally worked, sounded way weaker than he would have wanted.

“Hum… is it about-“

“Ron, I hope you have some good explanation for this!!”

He winced at the tone used.

“I… I’m sure I would have one if I actually knew what was going on!” he tried again, getting irritated that people didn’t even bother explaining to him what he apparently did.

A tense silence filled the small room, so dense that no one moved like paralyzed under the weight of it. When Brynn finally broke free from it, she was trembling, her face down and her quiet voice getting strained and louder as she spoke.

“Are you telling me you have absolutely no clue how much you frightened us?!”

“What are you even talking about-“

“We thought you died Ron!!”

His eyes widened, looking at Brynn’s crushed expression, as bits and pieces came back to him one after the other. Finally recalling the events of the day prior, the young man looked down towards the sheets before resting his head in his two hands.

“… I almost did, didn’t I?” he chuckled nervously. He heard both girls take a startled breath at that. It’s true. He foolishly attacked the three rabbit sinners without contacting anybody to even let them know about it. If he had indeed died, and he had been close to, they wouldn’t even have known about it until a couple days later. Why didn’t he call in the first place? That’s something he still couldn’t figure out. He probably just made an impulse decision, as always, thought it’d be too risky to even send a text, that if he just stopped looking their way for a second, they would have disappeared, acting up on whatever mischievous plan they had put together… But in the end, was this decision worth it when he could see all the suffering a simple risk had brought to his friends?

“…I’m sorry for being such an idiot. I don’t deserve you guys.”

Ron could feel the young goddess try to awkwardly pet his shoulder in comfort or whatever she was trying to do with her hands while muttering how untrue it was.

“Indeed. You don’t deserve us, you jerk…” cut Brynn, walking towards the bed. He could hear Shizen sputter incoherently, caught off guard by it. He ignored her. His friend seemed calmer as she sat at the end of the mattress, looking in his general direction.

“So why are you still around?” he asked, genuinely curious. He did tease her a lot and liked to poke fun at her more often than he’d like to admit. He had always been surprised that, despite her outbursts and fits of rage, they never actually had any big argument or moment where they stopped talking to one another. Why would she stick by him if he was this insufferable at times...

He felt a warm, smaller hand come to rest on his.

“…Cause you’re pretty great when you’re not acting like one.”

One of his rare genuine smiles threatened to split his mouth. He instead settled for squeezing her hand gently in return. Shizen was still clutching his sleeve, looking just as upset as when he woke up.

“Hey, see? I’m just fine! Everything is alright Shizen! Nothing’s broken, as far as I know.” He placed a comforting hand on her other shoulder, giving her a side hug she returned eagerly. He was not a very touchy feely person but he would be a monster to deny her a hug in such a situation. Brynn looked like a question was burning her lips and yet, she gave them a short moment before voicing it:

“What even happened? She says she found you, passed out, in a dark alley near a dumpster. How the heck did you get there?! Did you get mugged? Or was it another one of those… rabbit sinners?”

Ah yes. He had told Brynn about the rabbit sinners and his role as a rabbit savior a couple months ago. It had been a pretty embarrassing experience, really. He was just testing some new _BoBo_ poses in front of his mirror, while his parents and Shizen were out shopping, when she decided to drop by uninvited. He had simply greeted her shocked face with a comical shrug of his shoulders and a forced grin. It had been no secret between the two of them that Brynn had a huge crush for Baraguntai (since she insisted to talk his ears out about him) and discovering his real identity had been quite a shock for her… She actually had been quite mad at him for listening to what had been meant to be private… But all in all, he was quite impressed with how well she took this rabbit magical girl business considering how crazy it had nearly driven him.

“Yeah… Actually… Not just one.” He admitted under his breath.

“Ron don’t... Please tell me you didn’t try fighting the three of them on your own.”

“…what if I did?”

She slapped his hand lightly, reprimanding him through her glare.

“Ok ok! No need to harm me any further, sheesh…”

“Then tell us the whole thing. You fought the sinners, I got that, but how did you end up in that alley?”

“Well, to be honest, I knew I did not stand a chance. So I fled.” Ron said, looking away.

“Pff… Coward.”

“Fleeing is a perfectly valid strategy, I’ll have you know an-“

Brynn waved her hand as if to dispel the upcoming rant. They didn’t exactly have time to get into the intricacies of strategy. But their banter had the merit to lift the spirit of everyone in the room.

“What happened then?” asked Brynn, eager to know how her best friend ended up in such a state.

“Well I got cornered, obviously. I have no clue how they followed me this closely. But they did. As they approached me, I… I just passed out.”

“You… passed out? Before they attacked?”

“Weird, right? Maybe the heat got to me or something. You might not believe it but, I can get pretty hot in this dress.”

Brynn chortled and then pushed him (gently) for making her laugh at this.

“Did you…”

They both turned towards Shizen. They almost forgot she was there, her tiny voice not to be heard until now.

“Did you, by any chance, hear a voice?” she asked, gently. Ron furrowed his brows, letting his thoughts wander an instant, trying to reach out for some recollection of it.

“No I… Well maybe, now that you mention it… I did hear some voice… But I don’t even know what it might have said. I… don’t remember.” He confessed, a sorry look on his face.

Shizen didn’t add anything to that. She probably didn’t have enough to work with from what he told her but he still had the feeling that she knew more than she let on. Meanwhile, Brynn seemed deep in thoughts, a finger to her mouth, playing with her lower lip.

“It’s still weird though that they didn’t try to finish you off or take your egg. It’s what they’re after beside death and destruction, right? I mean, that’s what I would have done in their place.”

“Thank god you’re on our side...” he muttered, fishing something in his inner pocket. “But you’re right. Usually they go straight for it. But I’m pretty sure it’s still…” his expression froze as words died on his tongue.

“What’s going on? Ron?”

“The egg…” he looked, panicked, between the two of them “It’s gone!”

“Wha- You gotta be kidding me, right?! Please, this is no laughing matter!” Brynn took hold of Ron’s shoulders, shaking him slightly. That’s great, they were both freaking out!

“I usually always put it in this pocket! And… oh god…” Ron’s eyes widened, his mouth dropping open slightly, his brain coming to a dark realization “You found me in my normal form, didn’t you…” He didn’t even phrase it as a question. He knew it as a fact.

Shizen appeared rigid, as if the news itself had been enough to make her cease to function. Her face was blank for a hot minute until you could see the tears stream all the way down her cheeks again. Sniffling and sobbing, she fell onto Brynn who hugged her instinctively, her fingers carding through her hair.

“I… I let it happen again!! I am… I am a horrible goddess!! How…”

It was heartbreaking to hear Shizen blame herself for the loss of an egg again. It was not at all her fault and he’s sure she was never to blame for any of them. He was the one who fell unconscious and let the sinners get a hold of the egg, all of that because he’s just an arrogant moron!

Without his egg, his alternate persona, Baraguntai, is now gone. He won’t be able to turn into the so called _Soldier of Silver Roses_ , _Protector of the Earth_ and _Champion of the One Liners_ without it… How could he be so stupid?! With it, sinners could bring someone new into their ranks very easily.

This was more than bad.

This was absolutely awful!

Brynn looked up at him, a strained smile on her face. But he lowered his eyes, refusing the comfort. Nothing more was to be said. He failed at one of his only task as a rabbit savior. How will he be able to look the others’ in the eyes after that?

So he just stared at his hands, listening to the teen’s cries, gloomily wondering where it could be at this very instant.


	3. For the Damaged Rona

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a longer chapter for you guys. This was a bit harder to write to be honest but hey, it is done! Let's see if I can keep a cool rythm.  
> Enjoy!!

Strangely enough, time passed by and Ron found it in himself to just go on with his life. After telling the other saviors about his failure, he was met with a lot of support that he felt was undeserved. Especially from his cousin, Neige, who decided to spend more time with him to cheer him up. Of course he appreciated the sentiment, he really did, but it was hard to erase the culpability and act like nothing bad had happened.

Which is one of the reason why he doesn’t understand why he agreed to go shopping with Neige and her girlfriend, Fuchsia.

One afternoon, while he was playing one of his favourite video game on his home console, she just stormed into his room and stuck close to him, insisting that he “needs the air, that they could use a pair of arms, that he needs to get to know Fuchsia more, since you know, she’s not so bad and I don’t get why you don’t even like her, she’s the smartest and cutest girl ever and oh my god, did you hear her accent, it gets strong when she’s embarrassed and…”. Since he just couldn’t refuse anything from his cousin (especially when she decided to sit stubbornly in front of the screen), he got up and followed her outside.

As he expected, Fuchsia didn’t seem to have been alerted that he would be there. Meaning that she looked like a deer caught in the headlights, forcing on her expression a wry smile to please Neige.

Ron never really appreciated Fuchsia, which seemed mutual. He didn’t really know why, himself. She never did anything to insult him or deserve such an odd sentiment from him. Maybe a couple suspicious glares, at best but then again, she was apparently like that with anybody she was not well acquainted to. But any bad feeling would dissolve itself as soon as the young man would see her cold façade break, lighting up at the mere sight of her girlfriend. He could say many negative things about her but in the end, he was not the one dating her; Neige was. And the two of them were just so disgustingly happy together, in their own bubble of pure joy, he just couldn’t bring himself to be resentful towards her or discourage their relationship.

They entered the mall which was as crowded as it could get. Not really surprising since it was a Saturday afternoon just before summer break. All the shops looked open, as far as he could tell. But it was not exactly the first thing he noticed. No, the first thing was the ugly glass ceiling they must have built last month. From what Ron remembers, Brynn had been very excited because the owners of the mall had wanted to create a big garden at the center of it with benches surrounding a massive plane tree and where people could buy small potted plants. The idea seemed lovely in theory until you took into account how hot it can get in summer, in California, and how much worse it gets when you add on top of it a greenhouse effect. At least they should be out before he passes out because of the heat… And he’ll probably be too caught up in having fun to even notice the time pass!

But the two girl’s love for one another would bring a problem each time he was third wheeling their date: they were so caught up in each other’s presence, they barely even noticed him. He got the fact he was there only to hold the shopping bags (which he will, for a fact, make Neige return the favor for one day) but it still hurt to be asked to come to only be ignored for the rest of this hellish trip. It left him sole with his thoughts and how cripplingly alone he has been for the past years. Ever since he entered middle school, Ron has been noticing more and more of his friends getting together. Not that he was bitter; he only wished the best for them and congratulated them on their new found love. It just made him realize how much he’d like something similar in his life. Which was weird. The teen never thought himself to be a romantic or anything like that. He had crushes but they never lasted long.

Well, except for one.

For the longest time, he had the biggest crush on his friend Brynn. She was just… so passionate, so bright it was almost hard to look her direction without being blinded with her kindness… Kind, yes, that’s what she was. Even to plants of all things. He just knew that if he wanted someone to take this special spot in his heart, he wanted it to be her. But some recent events brought to life an unsettling fact…

Her crush for Baraguntai.

Ron never saw someone this infatuated with another. Never noticed her blush this much when mentioning someone’s name. Never heard her go on for as many hours about something…

Never saw her be this joyful and happy around him. Which was ironic since he was Baraguntai.

(Well, not anymore)

He didn’t blame her though. He did make Baraguntai’s personality as close to the one he only dreamt to have: confident, dreamy, arrogant but kind, brave to the point of reckless, a gentleman who will always serve justice above all… Plus he was just so ridiculously handsome in this form and, as much as he loved to joke about it, he did rock that dress, the piece of clothing hugging his body perfectly.

Ah… Who knew he’d end up cockblocking himself.

(Now that’s just so sad it _almost_ becomes funny.)

Ever since, he kind of just accepted he was not her type. Like many girls she liked confidence and smoothness… Something he is incapable of as just Ron Maple. So he slowly departed from her, letting go of his feelings. It somehow got easier when she learnt that he was Baraguntai. Romance is messy, Brynn is worth so much more than taking a stupid risk and blowing it.

He took a deep breath and looked around the colored venue.

Only to realize that he lost sight of the two love birds.

“That’s just the cherry on the freaking cake… That’s _exactly_ what I needed this Saturday afternoon.” He muttered to himself, loud enough for some passerbyes to look towards him.

They couldn’t have gone far. Maybe they were still at this one French café with all those fancy pastry names he didn’t care enough to retain. Fuchsia had stared at one of it for so long that Neige probably went back to buy it to her, or something.

He sighed. He had better things to do. Like, get the rest of the achievements on his Mist list. Or reorganize his comic shelf. Or write the script for his next video. Not be stuck in a mall, during a heat wave, dressed for winter in the middle of June.

(To be fair, this last part is my fault.)

Staying in place, he noticed more and more people looking in his direction. He knew he stuck out like a sore thumb but he was not mumbling out loud anymore… Was he?

Maybe he was. He never really got hold of it. His mouth was like a tap and once you open it, words just flowed out without a sign of stopping unless you shut him up manually.

So maybe he indeed was just mumbling incoherently like a total loner and that was why a freaking crowd was staring at him and running away from him and…

Wait.

What.

Ron looked over his shoulder, turning his entire body in the overall direction the crowd was gaping at.

And quickly understood that, no, he was not at all the one their horrified glares were aiming at.

Behind him, he noticed that a part of the building actually caught on fire, probably because of the excruciating heat.

Great. Just perfect.

He normally would have tried to go help the firefighters (whom still hadn’t arrived to the scene) but since he was just a normal civilian, to his dismay, he chose to follow the actions of his peers and run away like there is no tomorrow.

That was when he realized how much he took for granted his strength and speed in his rabbit savior form. He never was incredible in athletics, leaving it to people who actually enjoyed running in circles or something. But maybe he had been in the wrong all along. At this very instant, Ron Maple gained an appreciation and respect for this sport, noticing how the fire and destruction of the building was slowly catching up to him.

The thinner walls at the back, charred by the fire, crumbled onto one another, acting up like dominos. The crashing sounds and shrieks of the public were deafening. Little by little, more obstacles got in the way between him and the seemingly out of reach exit. People were dog piling on each other at the emergency exits, not caring that doing so would prevent them from escaping. Ron whipped his head from left and right, still running, looking for his cousin.

“Neige!! Fuchsia!!”

But his shouts died in the crowd and their panicked screams. He had to keep moving. The glass ceiling was adding another layer to this whole situation, accentuating the deadly temperature and forbidding the smoke from escaping this hell. Ron could only be hopeful that the girls were not on the upper floors… Trying to get in a shop to escape the sunrays was even more dangerous with walls collapsing on one another. Even though he has been going to this mall ever since he was a kid, the layout created by the fallen debris and the panic made him lose his marks… He just stood there, eyes blown wide, trying to look for an exit. That’s when he finally got the idea to take out his phone. He had to call the rest of the saviors!

Reaching for it with shaking hands, he nervously entered his password and got to the group discussion. He didn’t have the time to read whatever had been added to it, he slammed his thumb onto the “call” button.

He resumed his walk, waiting for an answer, each ringing making him tense up more and more.

(For the love of everything that is holy, please, someone, pick up!!)

Phone to his left ear, he quickened his pace, making his way to the center of the mall, following different signs. Most of them were burnt to a crisp, giving off a nauseating smell. The teen coughed in his right elbow, using his sleeve as a shield against the fumes.

“Yo Ron, what’s up bro? Wow you’ve got a lot of background noises right now. Went to a concert and didn’t invite me? I’m hurt dude.” Sanjeet’s voice finally quipped through the phone.

(Sanjeet, I could kiss you right now!!)

“Bring the team over to the Paradise Skygrove Mall ASAP!!” he yelled, still moving frantically.

“Wait what’s going on?!”

“It’s an emergency; just tell the others to bring their ass over here! There’s a fire, the mall is crumbling and there are a lot of people inside. Be quick!!”

“Wait Ro-“

He cut the call short and instantly dialed Neige’s phone number.

It was going to be alright. He just had to focus on finding Neige and Fuchsia and the saviors would take care of the rest.

He redialed, trying desperately to reach her. She had to be somewhere. Or maybe she was already out of this hell... But he was not going to leave it to chance. He had to make sure first that the two of them were alright. He knew Neige could take care of herself of course but he couldn't help but worry. 

Taking a sharp turn to the left, he finally reached the center of this gigantic mall. Unsurprisingly, a lot of damages had been done. Most of the plants were burnt and the tree was barely holding on. The square was surrounded by burnt materials. What used to be the potted plant stand had been reduced to ash. Brynn wouldn't be happy to learn that... Ron stepped over them, focusing an instant on his phone. Maybe Neige had given him Fuchsia’s phone number. He was pretty sure she did in the case of an emergency (or another try of getting them to talk to one another). He scrolled through his contacts. What even was her last name again?

As he finally found it, he heard a big crashing sound above him. Stepping away instinctively and looking up, he didn’t notice the cracking sounds escalating in intensity until he turned his head to see the plane tree falling on top of him.

Against his will, he let out a scream, crouching, his arms above his head.

He never understood people when they said that their lives flashed before their eyes… Until then. He remembered all his mistakes, his achievements… How quickly they could disappear, washed off by the flow of time. How a single thing could change your life forever. He thought back to all the things he never did, but wished he had done. And now, after vowing to protect nature, she was the one to take him down. Quite ironic. Maybe it is a punishment for losing his egg to the sinners and leaving his duty as a savior. He would deserve it in his humble opinion. Yet, he never felt the tree crash on him, or even heard it for that matter.

Did Sanjeet make it in time?! Impossible, he just had her on the phone, it couldn’t be…

He peeked through the gaps between his fingers, seeing a figure standing before him. But what stunned him was the appearance of said figure. He never thought he would ever see this face again.

“Don’t you fret! The cavalry hath come!” the voice exclaimed proudly.

When he turned and finally saw Ron’s shocked expression, his eyes widened slightly as he was rendered speechless for an instant before this smirk he used to practice for hours in the mirror appeared on his double:

“Hey there handsome! Your face is familiar, come here often?”

Ron didn’t know exactly what to say. It was like looking into a fun house mirror… You knew it was you but something felt... off… Baraguntai was in front of him, as resplandant as ever, sparkling with pride. Why was he here? How could it be? He had a million questions forming into his head, one after the other.

“I… Who are- How…”

(Very eloquent Maple. You’ll have to work on that…)

“Yeah. I usually have that effect on people.” His clone laughed, putting a hand on his hip and whipping his head to the other side. The amount of cockiness took Ron aback. He never noticed how obnoxious it could seem from an outside perspective. 

“No, it’s... How are-“

“Ron where the _hell_ are you?” a voice came over the phone, startling him.

Apparently he had dialed Fuchsia’s phone number and she had picked up. Finally.

“Fuchsia! Are you two alright? Are you out of the mall?”

“Of course, fool. I got Neige out as soon as I noticed the smoke. What about you? _Where were you this whole time?_ ”

Ron felt his ears turn red at that, slightly embarrassed.

“I… I guess I just spaced out… I’m glad to hear you are both fine… Please go home, we’ll see each other later.”

“Wait you haven’t answered-“

As he turned off his phone, he passed a hand across his face, looking over to the man who just probably saved his life. He did look almost identical to him in his savior form. It was very unsettling. Some details just were off. The colour scheme of his clothing seemed paler somehow, his shoulders wider, his muscles more defined and there was something in those eyes that pierced right through him.

He might have looked like him, but this man **wasn’t** him…

“So if you’re done with all the staring, how about we get out of this mess?”

He paused, as if he was actually waiting for Ron to give him a straight answer. This day was getting weirder and weirder... 

“…Right.”

He didn’t exactly like being ordered around but this copy was his best bet to get out of here unharmed.

So Ron followed him, a question falling out of his mouth on its own.

“How did you… arrive into the mall?”

“Very simple.” He said, holding one finger up. “See the glass ceiling? This poor thing is no match for my _Gleaming Stomp_ attack.” He concluded by stomping the ground and lifting slightly the edge of his dress, a scandalous look on his face, before resuming walking as if he had not even said anything.

( **Oh. My. God.** I thought I had scrapped that attack name months ago... Holy crap, that's embarrassing... )

Ron decided to not strike any other conversation with him, in hope to not hear anymore shameful memory of his. His priority was getting out of here before dying under a bunch of rubbles and apparently, sticking around him would guarantee him at least that.

They did not encounter anybody on their way. Hopefully, they had been evacuated and he was now the only one left behind to stick with this anomaly…

Baraguntai easily created a path through the maze of ashes, keeping Ron close to him to shield him from the flames.

“As much as I love your face, put something in front of your nose and mouth to filter the air. We wouldn’t want you choking to death now, would we?” he advised Ron

“I know that!” he exclaimed in response, quickly bringing his sleeve to his nose.

(Was the comment really necessary? Geez…)

A beat passed, with the two of them just walking.

“…Why aren’t you doing it too then?”

Baraguntai let out a snicker.

“I’m not as sensible to this kind of thing as mere humans, as you probably already know dear.” He glanced at Ron while saying those last words, his eyes full of mirth.

Ron was probably over reacting but if he indeed was always this way in front of his enemies as Baraguntai, he kind of understood their distaste for his person.

He kept following him blindly, focusing on keeping his breath controlled. Which is probably why he did not say anything when they reached a dead end.

“Here we are!” exclaimed the other proudly.

“… It’s a dead end.” He said, deadpanned.

“What do you mean? It is our ticket out!”

At this point, he just decided to let the man do whatever he wanted to do. Which was apparently to spin on him obnoxiously, taking way too much space in the cramped corridor before knocking gently with one knuckle against the wall.

“ _Knocky knocky! Open the door for me!_ ” he sang happily. This was getting ridiculous.

“Could you please be serious for one second and actually try to get us out of here?” Ron tried.

But as soon as he had finished saying that, he saw two thin strips of blue energy get out of the wall, forming in a split second a circle, cutting an entry into the plaster.

Behind the disintegrated wall stood Jelly Scheme who smiled warmly, seemingly very relieved to see him.

“Ron! I got the civies outta here! Glad to see you’re… Wait… What the…” her face fell into confusion as soon as she caught sight of Baraguntai.

“Long time no see, Jelly. Great job as always! Your timing could not be better!” his double said, giving her an exaggerated thumb up while sticking his other hand on his hip. Oh god.

“…Dude. What’s going on?” Jelly Scheme asked, a confused laugh getting out of her throat as her eyes darted nervously from one man to the other.

“To be frank with you…”

Ron took a deep breath, looking at Baraguntai shooting him a dazzling smile:

“I have no freaking clue.”


End file.
